UFC champion Israel Adesanya is widely considered the best middleweight fighter on the planet, but ONE Championship middleweight king Reinier de Ridder begs to differ. “I’m very confident that I would squeeze his head off,” the Dutchman, who also holds ONE’s light heavyweight title, told the Post this week. De Ridder (15-0) was back in action at ONE: Full Circle last Friday in Singapore, where he defended his middleweight title with a third-round submission victory against the welterweight champ Kiamrian Abbasov. Less than 24 hours later, the 31-year-old’s training partner and fellow Dutchman Gegard Mousasi, 36, defended the Bellator middleweight title with a first-round TKO of formerly unbeaten Austin Vanderford in Dublin, Ireland. “Man, the guy’s a legend.” De Ridder said of Mousasi. “He’s been in the game for 20 years. I think he’s had like 49 pro wins, 36 first-round finishes. You’ve gotta give it up for the guy. “They all come in – an undefeated guy – they all talk a lot of smack, but Gegard walks in, looks like he just woke up, and he beats all these guys. And he beats them decisively. What a beast, what a monster.” View this post on Instagram A post shared by Reinier de Ridder (@deriddermma) After watching Mousasi (49-7-2) clobber Vanderford, De Ridder also favours the Bellator champ to beat Adesanya (22-1) – whether it’s in an MMA cage or in the kick-boxing ring, where the UFC champ’s career began. “Gegard, I think he would beat him in a kick-boxing match, but Gegard mixes his striking with his wrestling like nobody else [in MMA],” he said. “His ground and pound is very dangerous. I think he finishes him.” De Ridder and Mousasi trained together extensively for their recent title defences. The ONE star cannot understate the importance of their collaboration in the gym. “[He was] unbelievably valuable,” De Ridder said of Mousasi. “He teaches me so much stuff in the striking department. We go head-to-head twice a week. We nearly kill each other. I have a lot to thank this guy for – his entire team. There’s a lot of good guys there.” As for who gets the better of their sparring rounds, it sounds like that will remain a gym secret. ONE X adds Hirata vs Radzuan, Yamaguchi vs Kelly “It’s always hard to talk about this stuff, but it definitely goes both ways,” De Ridder said. “It’s always great rounds. We go hard, but really teach each other a lot.” De Ridder will be back in action at ONE: X on March 26 in Singapore, which will commemorate the Asian martial arts promotion’s 10th anniversary. The two-division champion will be taking a rare break from MMA competition to battle BJJ legend Andre Galvao in a submission grappling contest.